My Other Accounts

October 2010

October 31, 2010

Editor of Italian Vogue since 1988, Franco Sozzani is believe it or not, 60 years old. Ok she works in fashion, so she should know how to dress. But doesn't she look amazing, she even manages to pull off wearing animal print, which can look very dodgy, past a certain age!

She also has very long hair, which can also look a little odd as one gets older. But she makes us want to grow our hair really long and have a wavy perm.

Her older sister Carla owns the amazing fashion and lifestyle shop 10 Corso Como, in Milan, which along with Rossana Orlandi is one of our favourite stores in Milan.

These two fashion icons own Italian fashion and we have a serious style crush on them.

October 30, 2010

I almost forgot.....Penguin have kindly offered a couple of copies of The Beautiful Darkness to give away to our readers...so if anyone would like a copy, do leave a comment below ( on the main review) and we'll pick the best/funniest/ most deserving....

When we heard about Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia's method of writing novels together, we couldn't help but be interested, since Jane and I are a writing partnership of sorts too (although sadly, nowhere near as rich).

The ladies write the Caster Chronicals together ('paranormal romance' according to the publishing world), fantasy tales of darkly magic goings on, set in the tradition-filled deep South of the USA, with a bit of teen romance thrown in. Not something I would have gone anywhere near under normal circumstances, but this week I have found myself sneaking off to quiet places where no one can find me to finish Beautiful Darkness, which was released here on the 28th October (Penguin sent us the book to review).

They write by working on their own chapters, handing it over to the other to be re written/edited, then handing it back again for more re writing, continuing until they are happy.

Kami told us (that would be the ladies speaking exclusively to us here, oh yes....) "We compare our writing process to a running stitch in sewing, because we write over each other's work so many times. But really, it's more like Jedi editing. Lots of hack and slash. A sentence usually ends up with some of Margie's words and some of mine, but it has to be good to stand up to that many passes. We draft really quickly, and revise very slowly."

How did you both start writing like this?

"Every person who has ever had any kind of business partner – writing or otherwise – will tell you to make friends with your partners, rather than to partner up with your friends. We didn’t know or follow that rule anymore than we knew or followed any of the rules of writing a first novel. As one reader helpfully pointed out to us, Beautiful Creatures (the first book) is twice as long as it should be, opens with a prologue, then a dream, then talks about the weather. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! But we didn’t know the rules.

We wrote it on a dare, and our only goal was to give our teen readers (Margie’s daughters and Kami’s English students) what they asked for. No vampires or werewolves. No female narrators in need of rescuing. A supernatural girl instead of a boy. Above all else, nothing generic. Those were the rules we followed.

Instead of writing a book, we wrote a story. And since we handed over the daily quota of pages to the teens most nights, it became a bedtime story of sorts. As everyone knows, a bedtime story is nothing if not collaborative. By asking what happened next, our teen readers actually changed what happened next. We didn’t consider ourselves authors, we were just the two people in charge of telling the story—the last people talking at the end of the day."

How did you keep control of the way the plot unfolded then?

"The story itself, as all Gothic stories go, was something bigger than the both of us. A story as big as ours—with as many quirky characters and shadowy secrets and century-old curses and strange twists of fate—has a way of making its writers feel small. Small as a small Southern town.

Feeling small kept us going, kept us able to hear when one scene wasn’t working or another felt wrong, kept us listening to our seven readers, and to each other. Feeling small meant we had nothing to lose by the choices we made, and no reason to stop writing.

The Caster Chronicles are now bestsellers, selling in 38 countries and 27 languages and are on their way to the big screen (thanks to Warner Brothers), what happens now?

"There are two more installments (if you check out their blogs it looks like they've just finished drafting book three). Some of our original seven readers are off to university, others to work. Our partners are dropping like flies. But the spirit of partnership remains. We still feel like our story is bigger than we are. At the end of the day, we still feel like two friends having a conversation that becomes a story that becomes a book that becomes a movie, or whatever else it needs or wants or gets to be. We still feel like we write for our readers, whether they are seven or seven hundred thousand."

Amanda is only three quarters of the way through Beautiful Darkness as she write this, but it's a cracking fantasy story that is pure escapism and I think would appeal to teen daughters as well as their mums, especially over Halloween, although Beautiful Creatures is the one to start with really.

October 29, 2010

And there are more drawing treats at the Fashion Illustration Gallery, where the work of Rene Gruau is on display. Gruau illustrated many an International Textiles magazine cover and worked closely with his mate Cristian Dior to bring his designs to the printed page. The exhibition showcases Gruau's work for the 38 years he worked with the magazine which makes it altogether a visual treat worth looking out for.

Later this year (10th November to be precise) there will be a big Dior exhibition at Somerset House where Gruau's close relationship with the designer will be examined further, so lots to look forward to for illustration fans.

The exhibition is at the Mayor Gallery, 22a Cork Street, W1S 3NA, 4th November until 4th December.

Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum showcases some of the most influential fashion illustrators from the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Featuring show reels, film clips, music and photography as well as original illustrations, from the collections of Chanel, Dior, Comme des Garçons, Poiret, Viktor & Rolf, Lacroix and McQueen, the exhibition reflects the style of each decade, as well as the social and cultural changes.

It starts on the 3rd of November, through to March next year and there are some interesting talks to accompany the exhibition.

October 28, 2010

Do you remember we were talking about Wallis being a place EVERYONE used to go to for their coats? Back in the days when clothes shops were scarce and Chelsea Girl ruled the world in terms of fast fashion.

Well turns out that the brand, which has been in business since 1923, has cherry picked a small, five piece collection of heritage coats from its vast archive to bring back to life. Called the1923 range, it features a pintuck 1938 crepe wool style, a 1948 bow back skirted version in bold red, a 1958 winter white number which is cocoon shaped and collarless and a 1965 princess coat which looks very wearable. Our favourite is the 1972 camel coloured cape coat, which is very on trend in all sorts of ways, colour, shape, the 70s......

We asked head of design Clive Reeve (yes we're sooo well connected here at TWR) a couple of questions on coats for you....

Clive, what are the key things to look for when buying a coat, do you think?

"The key things are fit, find a shape that flatters your figure. Quality is also key. Italian fabrics have a more luxurious hand-feel and remember, a really good coat should be tran-seasonal and reflect your style."

Many of our readers are over 35, which of the five styles from the 1923 range would you recommend?

"My personal favourite's the camel cape, it's classy but on trend, team with the new seventies trouser silhouette and instantly lengthen your legs! The other is the red coat which dates from 1948, it's full skirt accentuates the waist & highlights the lower leg, team with a heel for a very feminine silhouette.

Recently Jane Birkin told us that she kept warm by putting sheepskin in her shoes, from your years of experience in design, do you have any tips on how to dress warm and stylishly?

"Sheepskin! Jane Birkin as always bang on trend! Don't loose any heat from head & hands, so hot accessories such as gloves and this season's must-have fur deer stalker will keep you warm !"

1938 pintuck crepe £120. 1948 bow back skirted £120

1965 princess coat £100 1958 cocoon coat £120

The 1923 collection has just launched on line and in a few selected stores, check the Wallis website for details.

October 27, 2010

After three weeks of enforced indoor activity it is finally time to take the puppy out. We are both a little nervous, him whimpering nervously, reluctant to leave the safety of the house, me, feeling like a new parent exposing her new born to the outside world.

We head off down the High St, the dog walking beautifully by my side, like he's trying out for Crufts, except he doesn't so much as walk, as prance in a bouncy kind of way.

We are stopped many many times and I reply, 'yes, he's 8 weeks, a labradoodle, a boy and yes isn't he cute.' I don't mind, I am proud as only a mother can be, although teen daughter insists I am in fact 'Grandma' as she is mum, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that one.

We arrive at the park and the first person we meet is a completely insane Italian woman who lies down on the grass, hugs and kisses the dog and positively gushes about how gorgeous he is. He, of course loves it, and I try my hardest to stick to the, introduce yourself first, then the dog', rules I learnt at puppy training. It doesn't work and we move on, with the dog thinking this is the reception he's going to get from everyone. He bounds up to some teenage girls, who scream, 'aah hes attacking me, he's biting me, innit Lateeeesha'. This isnt going to be as easy as I imagined!

We spot a couple of big dogs heading towards us and I try to assess if they look scary. One of them is a Staff and looks fierce, but I don't want to be 'doggist', besides I have friends with lovely Staffs. Suddenly, we are surrounded by dogs and people in wax jackets and wellies (remember we are in Hackney!), who all know each other. Once again I am saying, 'yes, he's 8 weeks'.........etc, etc.

I feel like a new mum at toddler group, where everyone knows everyone else and I don't know where the tea is!! They all start to walk, with the dogs tussling and playing, they move as one and I'm not sure if I should join them. But, as is the way with small children, the dog decides he is one of the gang and has already made new friends, so off we go.

Later that week I am out at a local restaurant and on the next table are some of the dog walkers. One of my friends is more established than me in the local canine community, and chats to them. They turn out to be hilarious, with the most interesting ones sneaking out for a crafty fag and staying on well past closing time.

When I first had children I remember feeling nervous about new situations and unsure about meeting new people. As I grew into motherhood, I relished the opportunities to meet some amazing women and great children. It took me out of my comfort zone, opened my eyes to many different worlds and over the years I've made some great friends. I've learn not to judge on appearances and become more tolerant and accepting than I had been in my shallow 'fashion' world!

So, I think I'm going to like this dog walking lark, but obviously I'm going to need a wax jacket and some Hunter wellies!

To start the week on a jolly note, we have a TV for someone to test drive.

The nice people at Panasonic want to know what we think of the new Pure Line range of TVs they have produced which are aimed at the design conscious home. As far as we can see it still looks like a TV to us from the picture, but that's where you come in, dear readers, as this is a test job for you.

We have such witty and clever posts left on the blog, we think some of you are budding guest TWR bloggers, and lets face it, you're a pretty informed and opinionated bunch who are often much funnier than us . Jane and I have been waffling on for two years now on TWR and we think it's about time we gave our fabulously loyal readers a chance to give us their opinions on stuff we like.

So if you live in the UK, you might like this. Panasonic have agreed to lend one of our readers a new TV for two weeks. They will deliver it to anywhere in the UK and although they can't send an electrician to fit it (it should be pretty easy to plug in and go anyway) they will have a telephone helper to talk you through any problems you might have.

In return we will ask you to write an email to us telling us how it went. Don't worry if you aren't a confident writer, we will edit what you write and ask you prompt questions to get you started....you can even talk about it over the phone to Jane or I if you find that easier, we really just want to know what you think.

In our house it is very much middleagedad and teenagesons who buy (and have opinions on) the electrical goods, so I think it could be very interesting to get a woman's view on what a good TV needs to be about. And we're pretty sure you have some good views.....

Fancy a smart new TV for a fortnight? leave a comment below letting us know you're interested and we'll pick the best comment by the end of the week.

October 24, 2010

You might remember that Amanda's middleteenageson has recently fledged the nest and moved into halls of residence at his university. MAD and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching from afar as he learns to cope on his own, having had a pretty soft ride up until now (oh ok, we clucked like CRAZY for the first two weeks, but now he's settled and very happy we're having fun...)

Mostly he has done very well. His progress can be seen through texts..."How many times can you reheat Chinese takeaway?' 'Please send shopping list and instructions for spag bol by text'. 'Not buying food because I have to bring it home on the bus and it's heavy'. 'No washing as convinced girls in my hall to do it for me'. 'Can't believe how cheap beer is here' (you might like to know I have edited the spelling here).

One problem that has caused him outrage(!) is how slow the wireless internet connection is in halls, being used to broadband with booster strength wifi at home (paid for by mum and dad of course).

'So, can you fix that, mum?'

I spoke to the nice people from Three Mobile, who sell the Mifi we wrote about recently, and they let him test drive the new version of the (mobile internet) Mifi for two weeks. And it was a brilliant success, so much so that when the test time finished and we had to give it back he said he was going to have to buy one.

He texted me the reasons it was so good....

'It's really easy to use and connect with, managed to get on line within 2 mins of opening box'. (This is much better than the last design, which was a bit fiddly)

'Mobile, so can come with me in bag, rigid and tough enough to survive. Did some work on the library outside table while having lunch the other day, worked a treat'. (Love the fact that he's actually been in the library, I bet he was in the bar and just wrote library to make me feel better)

'Battery life good for its size, lasted maybe 5 hours in constant use without a charge.'

'Managed to get my flatmate on it too and it was just as fast with us both using it'. (it will take up to five gadgets/computers per Mifi, which might make the cost better for students if they all chip in, although things might get slower if everyone's on it at the same time).

'Very cool looking, looks like a new kind of ipod or gadget' (suspect this is important)

The only problem he encountered was with BBC Iplayer, which was very slow, even though the films he was streaming (doubtless from illegal websites) and YouTube were fine. 3 say this is because 'YouTube intelligently picks up on how fast your connection is and adjusts the bitrate of the video accordingly, whereas iPlayer doesn’t' (needless to say that wasn't me talking but a geeky bod from Three Mobile).

So anyone who has students with similar internet issues might like to consider this as an option. There are a couple of ways to buy it, either as a pay-as-you-go or as a monthly option, neither look exactly cheap but shared between a couple of kids it works out quite reasonably. Certainly be a good Christmas present.

October 23, 2010

Cut by The Slits would be very near the top of my ultimate all time favourite albums and The Slits one of my all time favourite bands. Fascinated by their unique sound and style, they provided a complete contrast to my suburban teenage years and along with Polystyrene from X Ray Spex and Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees, strengthened my resolve to go to art school and escape the confines of a 'normal' life.

Ari Up, Pamolive, Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt formed the Slits in 1976 when Ari Up was only 14 and by the late 70's were touring with the Clash. Part of the West London punk scene, these women were all about being themselves and making music they loved.

Heavily influenced by reggae, both musically and from a style perspective, the band enlisted the help of reggae producer Dennis Bovell to make Cut.

Not only did I love their music (in fact I still do) I loved their attitude and sense of style. They were never about being sexy or overtly feminist, even when posing naked covered in mud on the front of the Cut cover. Ari Up once said "the cover was not part of any feminist stance: We just did our own thing. If we wanted to be sexy we were, but not because we did what the magazines said."

I was sad to hear of the death at 48 (my age) of Ari Up, one of my teenage/20 something role models and it made me wonder who are the contemporary Ari Ups and Siouxsie Sioux's? These days it seems like it's all about money, celebrity, conventional beauty and glamour and marrying a footballer. Or am I just not hip anymore and have no idea who the edgy, indie bands are? I suspect so!

If you are a Slits fan take a look at this old footage, but move away from the computer if not, they are an aquired (over a long period of time) taste. Even the most diehard fans should skip to 35 seconds!I can so feel a Buffalo Girls style hat moment coming on..........

October 22, 2010

After admiring the lovely wedding photos on our friend myvintagevows blog this summer, we rather liked the look of this more home spun, charm-rich wedding idea, not that either Jane or I are thinking of abandoning our MADs for new models, but the whole vintage-y vibe would be lovely for any celebration party theme for big birthdays or anniversaries.

Interestingly, we've just received a book to review....The Natural Wedding Book, by Louise Moon, which picks up on this natural, home made craft look rather nicely. At first I wondered if a wedding book was relevant to us, but of course it is, either for our daughters (although I read that the average age of brides is getting ever higher) or for those of us hitching up later in life. This book is refreshingly free of dewy faced young brides, in fact there are very few pictures of brides at all, instead it's all about craft projects, display ideas and cooking.

The book covers every aspect of throwing your own wedding and party; how to make your own paper out of wild flowers and seeds for the invitations, how to construct hand tied flower posies and which flowers work best, how to turn vintage tea cups into candles and how to produce really pretty DIY decorations on a shoe string budget. It is illustrated with inspiring photos and there's a good directory of suppliers and experts at the back which is tailored to UK, US or Australia and New Zealand , so if you buy it in the US it has just US references, which is sensible. (No mention of what to do if you live in Essex)

It would make the perfect engagement present for anyone contemplating a home spun wedding, then you could borrow it back to crib some of the ideas for any party you might be planning of your own with a natural theme.

Check the website for where to buy depending on which country you are reading this in.

October 21, 2010

I love Downton Abbey, Modern Family, Mad Men, even Newsnight and I am a big fan of BBC4. I love culture of all kinds, and I mean all kinds. I love galleries, weird interactive theatre, read a couple of (serious-ish) books a month and listen to Radio 4 constantly.

Oh yes, dear readers I have all the right middle class/middle aged female credentials. But I also have to admit to a serious trash TV addiction! I like to tell people it's research for the day job, as it's vital for me to be tuned into the most recent fashion and lifestyle trends, but really it's because I am terribly nosey and voyeuristic. So consequently, Eastenders could be my specialist subject on Mastermind, I have watched all 11 series's of Big Brother, Thursdays wouldn't be complete without What katie Did Next and I was banging on about Come Dine With Me, long before anyone else had even heard of it.

The latest offering from ITV 2, The Only Way is Essex ticks all my trashy TV boxes and then some. A cross between a soap, documentary and reality TV show, the UK's answer to The Hills/Jersey Shore is truly the most hideous/fabulous thing to hit our screens in a long time. The clearly scripted docu/drama follows the lives and loves of glamour model Sam, wanna be glamour model Amy (who is so fascinating and not in a good way), playboy/nightclub entrepreneur Mark, his on/off girlfriend Lauren and Kurt, the 'jeal' (Amys abbreviation) almost boyfriend of Amy.

We learn that Lauren has had Marks name tattooed on her pubic hair line, watch Sam have a vajazzle (a glittery vagina, to you and I!) and see the boys spend vast amounts of money on watches and clothes.

It truly is an insight into another world and perhaps sums up why so many young girls increasingly see being 'glamorous' as a career. In a few weeks time I will no doubt be composing a feminist rant about how programmes like these rot our impressionable daughters minds, but for now I'll sit open mouthed on Wednesday and Sundays nights, screaming with horrified glee.

Nanny Pat does Marks ironing

BTW my favourite characters are Harry, Amys camp cousin and Nanny Pat, who has so far turned up at Marks flat with a Sausage Plait and a Bread and Butter pudding. She is the perfect Essex nan and believe me, will become a massive star in her own right! Remember we told you about her first!

October 20, 2010

A while ago, TWR reader Pat from Wales asked us to look into interesting hats to wear for every day as things got colder. For a while we were a bit stumped. You can pick up smart event hats quite easily and the odd nice hat from brands, but it's surprisingly difficult to see a big selection of easy to wear hats all in one place.

It was fortuitous then, that we were invited to the opening of a new gallery store in London which offers a really generous range of beautifully designed and well priced hats. Hat Gallery MV in Conduit Street is run by the elegant Marly Vroemen, who is out to convince that a new hat will make the world a better place.

The selection of hats starts from around £30 for pretty wool berets, rising to hundreds for the fur/designer/made to order ones but you can pick up a really fabulous design for around the £70 mark.

Marly has hat stores in Germany and Amsterdam and has brought lots of interesting European designers to the shop, including fab trilbys (£198) from Dutch designer Mirjam Nuver which have a neat knitted flap that can be dropped when it gets really cold to keep your ears warm and the prettiest berets from Italian range Inverno, (from £49) which are generous enough for big heads like mine, (berets often look ridiculously perched on me).

Readers might also like to know that Marly and her staff are experts in handling chemo-hair loss issues and has a small room where customers can go and have hat trying on sessions and seek advice in private. If needed Marly can get styles made to order, it takes about two weeks. She stocks the range Parkhurst, which she recommends for hair loss sufferers as the brand is washable and is well designed to cover the hair line stylishly.

Encouraged by a glass of very nice champagne, TWR had a wild time trying on and remembered what fun it is buying hats. The store also sells contemporary sculpture by artists Klaus Baumgärtner and Robert Mentzen, which works well next to the hats, which are mini sculpture themselves.

October 19, 2010

As a lover of bright colours and pattern, especially polka dots, I have long admired the work of Yayoi Kusama. The 81 year old from Japan is a sculptor, painter, writer, installation artist and performance artist.

Having experienced hallucinations and mental illness since a child, she describes her paintings of polka dots as an expression of her life, in which she feels like she is floating 'in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space' and is 'a dot lost among a million other dots.'

Last year she wrapped trees along the Southbank in London, in red and white polka dots, as part of the fabulous Walking in my Mind exhibition.

October 18, 2010

We feel obliged to point out to you that the super-stylish Kate Spade brand, one of our favourite New York stores to stop off in if we are visiting, has opened a pop up store in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden until mid November.

It is very charmingly spread out over a two storey town house as if someone actually lived in it, with jewellery artfully slung over dressing tables. drawers you can rummage through and proper wardrobes with a jumble of (stylish) clothes inside. The staff described it to me as 'a house where the Kate Spade girl ideally lives'. Clearly she is childless, with a big budget and I suspect is too young to read this blog, but we loved it anyway, it's beautifully done.

The handbags and small leather purses and accessories are really great shapes and affordable prices compared to what you can pay for a designer bag these days. You can also take a peek at the bedlinen range due to be launched in spring 2010, which is when the proper store will open in London. Jewels looked rather a good buy, with big stone earrings starting at £35, should you need a reason to go in.

Continuing our fashion trend spotting at Frieze this year, here's what was happening with accessories...

Decorative tights. Patterned, brightly coloured, striped and lace details all livened up legs at Frieze. It was a good look when teamed with biker or heeled shoe boots and we really loved the simple stripe details on sheers. We liked the light touch of lace detail on sheer too, but weren't too sure about the lace ones mixed with the leopard print heels however, each to their own.....might work better with printed ballet flats, if you were thinking of repeating this at home...

Wild. There are always a few wild looks, things we sort of quite admire but fall short of wanting to emulate ourselves. The super high hooker boots might be a look best left in Vegas (specially when teamed with a short ra-ra skirt, as this one was) however much they might have cost and we might have worn the Vivienne Westwood shoe boots without the multi textured socks.....And school grey socks with scruffy riding boots? We're all for whacky but maybe the boots could have done with a polish to pull the look off.

Handbags. As we mentioned on the previous post, handbags were simple and bling-less (is that a word?) but still looked as if they had cost as much as the art. Loved the big black leather and canvas one worn with the pretty rick-rack skirt. Also note the great paint-splash effect jeans worn with the orange Celine (we think?) bag...I feel the need for a brightly coloured handbag coming on.

October 17, 2010

The Orla Kiely range just keeps getting better and their latest addition is definitely going on our Christmas list. If you grew up in the 70's you will love the Hornsea potteryesque shapes, complete with wooden lids. The casserole dishes are perfect for cooking up retro favourites such as beef bourguignon, lasagne and chicken chasseur.

October 16, 2010

At Frieze Art Fair this week we couldn't help but be impressed with the well groomed ladies that were admiring and buying the art. There was lots of style and a strong trend for very expensive boots and bags....not to mention fancy patterned tights (which we'll show you on Monday...too much for one post!).

Trends in brief....

Lovely coats. Nothing says style like a well cut coat, arty ladies like theirs with a bit of colour and print, a bit of embellishment and a bit of shape. I lusted after that Dries van Noten embroidered sleeve parka but I also loved the sleek boxy shape of the grey fur one worn with interesting boots.

Colour & pattern. Arty ladies SHOULD be good at putting colours together (although we saw a lot of black) and there were some great combinations of colour -aubergines/lilac and mulberries were popular as layering colours, and I loved the textured lace peeping out from the pencil skirt in navy...Chanel I think?

Leopard print. I know, but it looked great in black & white as a coat - there were lots of neat printed skin coats and bags too- and gorgeous as a cardi and top, multi layered in shades of blue with a matching ikat print bag, shouldn't work but did.

Long boots. Top trend, hands down, was for over the knee/very long/interestingly patterned boots. Worn either with tight solid colour trousers (the over the knee ones were mostly worn like this) or with knee grazing dresses. Only a small percentage wore the heels stupidly high, in fact the really high ones looked a tiny bit 'off the mark' here.

Neat, simple handbags. We saw lots of lovely, simple shaped (read 'expensive') leather bags, both small and giant size. The trend for bling-y hardware has been abandoned it seems, and replaced by minimal loveliness. There were also some really beautiful textured and embroidered ones, as you would expect from arty ladies. More of these to come on Monday's post.

Knee length. seem's like the arty ladies like their coats, skirts and dresses mostly just grazing the knee, or a touch longer (particularly if there's a pattern involved). There's a little bit of short (see above) but mostly this was on slightly younger gals. Nice when worn with patent boots.

October 15, 2010

Yesterday neither Jane or I could get out to see the new +J range due to having to actually do some work for the day jobs. However we were lucky enough to have TWR reader Peeved of Hackney turn up accidentally (yeah, right) at Uniqlo Oxford St and report back to us...here's what she wrote.

Dear Jane and Amanda,

I must write and tell you of my hellish shopping experience this morning as I know you will understand/appreciate the pain/laugh at me.

Having ventured into the West End in order to get a long-sleeved, thumb-hole T shirt from COS (as read on TWR) for a friend in New York, I thought I could try and find some new trousers for me. It turns out that both COS and Whistles seem to have something odd going on with sizing, the size 10 being (I felt) a teeny bit tight and the 12 dropping off - I kid you not there must have been 3.5 - 4" difference in waist sizes, which is not, in my book, a 'size'. Anyway, I digress.

Stomping along wondering if I should diet or stuff myself, I happened upon Uniqlo Oxford St.

'Aha!' A lightbulb pops in my head. I will see if they are doing the very lovely and useful Heat-tech tops (as also read on TWR) from last year again. I wander in.

To my surprise, the back of the store resembles a jumble sale at St. Joseph's Hospice 10 minutes after it opens. Women were silent, grabbing anything they could get their hands on, rummaging through piles of stock, dropping things on the floor and carrying huge armfuls around. The truth dawns. I have happened upon, entirely by accident, a new drop of the +J collection by Jil Sander.

Madness takes control and I head for where I think there may be trousers. I find the remains of a rail, and manage to collect a 10 and a 12 in two different styles.

I head for the changing room, dismayed at the queue, but it is well organised and the staff are lovely. The 10s are still a bit tight for my liking (should I give up wine? I wonder idly), but these 12s are fine so I decide to purchase. At this point there is a bit of a commotion from the changing cubicle next to me and an irate older (55-ish) woman berates an assistant -

'What? You cannot go and find me a size 14 in both these styles? These are too small! WHAT? You want me to get dressed and GO AND FETCH THEM MYSELF?'.

I have to say I am not sympathetic. The poor staff are doing their very best given the circumstances (everybody else takes in at least 5 or 6 things to try on, I am below par at 4), and frankly I do not think they deserve to be shouted at in this way. Miraculously another member of staff is found and goes to look for said size 14s, but I leave the changing room before she returns so cannot report on the outcome. I hope they were way too big. Or too small, and that she is even larger than she first thought.

I head out to pay and on the way find a jacket that has been abandoned by some other shopper. It is black, it is cashmere/wool and it is very, very nice and a medium. I drag off my ancient Gap denim jacket once more, find it fits beautifully and add it to my haul. Have very pleasant conversation with girl on the till, even though feeling somewhat frazzled by the atmosphere, I like my shops and shopping trips calm.

Head over the road to John Lewis to get things for dinner. Something beeps as I go in, but many people go in at the same time so I think nothing of it. Ken, who packed my groceries in the food hall was lovely. I leave. Something beeps, and a shadow flits across my mind, but I see a bus and run for it. I have purchased a Fentiman's Shandy as my post-shopping treat to help me recover this afternoon, and it is calling to me.

You know what is coming, don't you?

I get home, examine purchases and find the till girl has failed to remove the security tag from my jacket. ARRRGH. I will have to go back. I must point out here that nothing beeped as I left Uniqlo, so one assumes their security system was having a bad day.

Fentiman's Shandy no longer seems enough, perhaps I should have a quick lie down in a darkened room?

Yours,

Peeved of Hackney.

(Readers, we don't believe the 'accidental' discovery that PoH was at Uniqlo on the day that +J launched, nor do we think she's really that concerned about having to return to get that security tag removed...just another excuse to shop, we say!)